- Stellantis CEO Carols Tavares announced the group will review its brand portfolio in the next 2-3 years.
- All 14 Stellantis brands have a strategic plan in place through 2031, with full funding secured until 2026.
- Stellantis Chairman John Elkann confirmed that the leadership changes were backed by Tavares.
It turns out the 14 brands under Stellantis’ umbrella will have to prove their worth by 2026, five years earlier than originally expected. So much for that comfortable 10-year grace period Stellantis handed out back in 2021.
CEO Carlos Tavares just revealed that only the first five years were actually funded. In other words, while each brand may have a shiny product plan that stretches to 2031, the money will run out by 2026. After that, it’s a race to see who stays in the game.
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Tavares, speaking to Auto News on the sidelines of the Paris Auto Show, made it clear that the reviews will start soon: “We will review each brand’s performance at about two-thirds of the way through the Dare Forward 2030 plan, so you could expect decisions in two to three years.”
He added that while some product launches might have been shuffled around due to “changing conditions,” none of them have been canceled—yet. Basically, the clock is ticking, and some of these brands better hope their latest launches aren’t the automotive equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Adding to the drama, Stellantis recently announced that Carlos Tavares will retire when his current contract ends in early 2026, as part of several managerial changes within the group. His tenure hasn’t exactly been smooth, facing harsh criticism from U.S. dealers and unions over his strategies, but now he gets to exit the stage before the real chaos begins.
Carlos Tavares photographed during the Paris Auto Show 2024
Tavares’ upcoming retirement means his successor will likely be the one holding the axe when it’s time to decide which brands live and which are cut, sold off, or merged into oblivion. The new CEO will inherit the mess, making the hard calls about which of Stellantis’ 14 brands deserve a future. And with the clock ticking, Stellantis needs to have that new leader in place by the end of 2025, just in time for them to start rearranging the deck chairs, or tossing some overboard.
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Stellantis currently operates 14 brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, and Vauxhall – not to mention its stake in China’s Leapmotor. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and with money running thin after 2026, the weaker links might find themselves with little to chew on.
Elkann Rules Out Merger Talks
John Elkann, Stellantis Chairman, was also present at the Paris Auto Show 2024. In an interview with AFP, Elkann said that Stellantis has no interest in any mergers or acquisitions of other manufacturers: “We’re not ready to consolidate, but we’re not ready to deconsolidate. This is not the time”.
The high-ranked official added: “We are really focused on the business, at the level of our reference shareholders, the board, our CEO and the management team. Not on the possible distractions of consolidation operations, whatever they may be”.
Elkann claims that the upcoming leadership shakeup was the wish of Carlos Tavares himself. The chairman praised the work of the CEO over the past four years, confirming the ongoing support of the main shareholders and the board of directors to Tavares.
